NEW YORK, 30 June 2026 Build today publicly launched as the world's first autonomous services firm for the built world. The company pairs agentic AI with domain experts to deliver the pre-development work that determines whether major projects get built at all turning months of site selection, feasibility analysis, due diligence and design development into hours.
Build was founded at the end of 2024 against the backdrop of an accelerating global infrastructure crisis. The data centre buildout the largest industrial programme of this generation is compressing timelines faster than traditional development teams can respond. Meanwhile, productivity in the built world has fallen further behind every other sector, constrained by fragmented manual processes that have not changed in decades.
Build's model is a direct response to that constraint. The company operates as a neofirm: a professional services firm where the majority of the work is done by technology, with a layer of domain expertise that delivers institutional-grade output. Partners engage Build the same way they would engage a consultant by email, call or message and receive verified deliverables in days rather than weeks.
"The world's data centres can't move fast enough. We built the firm to fix that. Our partners tell us Build allows them to go to site with critical information that gives them negotiation leverage, to work in parallel instead of sequencing dozens of specialists, to show up to IC with designs and direction. We do in days what used to take months."
James Stirrat-Ellis, Co-founder and CEO, Build
Since launch, Build has delivered more than 150 projects across 18 countries, working with Fortune 500 companies, hyperscalers, governments and the world's largest data centre developers. The vast majority of engagements Build's engagement under non-disclosure.
Some highlights from the last 12 months of Build's operation:
- 150+ Projects delivered
- 18 countries
- 10x faster than the industry average
- $2T+ collective AUM of firms served
Alongside the company launch, Build is announcing three products: a services offering where Build delivers outcomes directly; a platform that acts as a system of record for customer projects; and an assistant that connects clients to over 2,000 live data sources across the world.
Build has raised $8.5M in seed funding from Index Ventures, Pebblebed whose founders co-founded OpenAI and Meta AI Research, and Tishman Speyer with angel participation from C-suite leaders at OpenAI and Blackstone, a series of funds and angels across technology and real estate.
"Build represents a genuinely new model for professional services one that the data centre buildout and the broader built world urgently needs. The team combines deep domain expertise with some of the most capable AI engineering we have seen in this category."
Martin Mignot, Partner, Index Ventures
Build is headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco and London. The team combines built world expertise from Tishman Speyer, Starwood Capital and Heatherwick Studio with AI-native talent from Y Combinator, Harvard, Imperial, Cambridge and MIT.
About Build
Build is the world's first autonomous services firm for the built world. The company pairs agentic AI with domain experts to accelerate the pre-development and design development work that determines whether major infrastructure projects get built. Founded in 2024, Build has delivered 150+ projects across 18 countries and is backed by Index Ventures, Pebblebed and angels from OpenAI and Blackstone. build.inc
About Index Ventures
Index Ventures is a global venture capital firm backing ambitious entrepreneurs building category-defining companies. Founded in 1996, with investments including Revolut, Roblox, Adyen, Datadog and Etsy. Offices in London, New York and San Francisco. indexventures.com
About Pebblebed
Pebblebed is a seed-stage venture firm for technical founders, backing people solving technically rigorous problems. The firm was founded by Pamela Vagata, a founding member of OpenAI and creator of FBLearner Flow at Facebook; Keith Adams, founder of Facebook AI Research and former Chief Architect at Slack; and Tammie Siew, formerly of Sequoia. Michael Thomas, who helped launch Meta AI Research (FAIR), also serves as a partner. Pebblebed leads approximately 20 investments per fund. pebblebed.com
About Tishman Speyer
Tishman Speyer is one of the world's leading owners, developers, operators, and investment managers of first-class real estate. The firm has developed, acquired, and operated assets across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia, with a global portfolio spanning office, residential, industrial and data center, life science, and mixed-use properties including Rockefeller Center in New York City. tishmanspeyer.com